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[quote=Anonymous]Congratulations to all who recently completed the college process and good luck to those still waiting. I’m hoping some of you will be willing to give some bTDT advice to someone who is just starting the process. Any and all advice welcome.

My oldest is only a sophomore and is completely (and understandably) uninterested in college issues so far. I’m not very interested yet either but I sense I should start getting slightly educated so I don’t feel stupid later. I checked out one of those how to apply to college books from the library and skimmed it. Here’s what I gathered:

1. Get your kid to think generally about what they want in a college, and if possible about what they want to do after college. Size, location, feel of school, types of majors offered. Think about what we can afford. 
2. Encourage child to look for colleges that generally match the stuff they like. Avoid the trap of picking the most selective colleges. 
3. Visit as many colleges as possible to get a feel for what different ones are like. 
4. Get good grades. 
5. Engage in some sort of extracurricular beyond academics. Sports, a club, anything. Just do something. 
6. Take the ACT or SAT. Don’t blow it off. 
7. Encourage kid to write carefully considered essays and not slap stuff together the day before it’s due.

With the exception of grades and extracurriculars, all this gets done junior year. That seems stressful but is perhaps unavoidable.

What else is there to do? What nuances am I missing? Anything else that ought to be done before junior year? Anything else I or my child can do now that will make junior year less stressful? Any tips for a newbie?

FWIW, I don’t think either I or my child will suffer too much from overstress or competitiveness. Child gets good grades (mostly As) so that’s likely not a problem unless some change occurs. Not a competitive athlete so that is not a consideration. I am a planner who dislikes disorder and stress, so that’s why I’m trying to figure out now what I can do in advance to keep things low key next year.

Any advice greatly appreciated.

PH[/quote]

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